Indiana police K-9 dies after being left in back of squad car

DEKALB COUNTY, Ind. – A police dog in northern Indiana died of apparent heat stroke in the back of his handler’s squad car, WANE reports.

According to a release from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, School Resource Officer Courtney Fuller and K-9 Mojo returned home from duty around 3 p.m. Thursday.

Fuller became “distracted by a situation” involving his newborn child, and failed to remove Mojo from the back of the car.

Around 7:15 p.m. Fuller noticed Mojo wasn’t in his kennel, and he found Mojo dead of an apparent heat stroke in the back of his squad car.

Fuller contacted his supervisor, who contacted the Allen County Sheriff’s Department to conduct an investigation, according to Sheriff Don Lauer. Fuller has been placed on suspension pending the result of the investigation, Lauer said.

Mojo was taken to Purdue University for a necropsy to confirm the cause of death.

“The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department regrets this tragic mistake and mourns the loss of one of its members,” Lauer wrote in a release.